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7/16/10

Periodically in a Christian's life, we feel the need to share our faith with others that we think need to hear it. The whole idea is fairly presumptuous, but with the right motives, telling someone about Christ is a great thing. Some Christians go a little overboard, trying to talk Jesus with people that may already be Christians.On the other hand, there are those (like myself) who are Christian introverts. Christian personalities are not consistent with general personalities. The most vibrant extrovert can be introverted when it comes to telling someone about Jesus. This personality talk is probably something I've made up to make myself feel better about not sharing my faith as much as I should. "As much as I should." As I said, we feel like we should share our faith. Most of us would call that a form of conviction. I've a friend who can shed a new light on what it means to be convicted. Check out his post - The Holy Spirit is Not Your Personal Prosecutor. Regardless of what we call it, the feeling is there. Most likely because we have a duty to tell people about Christ (Matt. 28:16-20). And for most of us, that is a fairly uncomfortable duty. But as I've mentioned before, and I think most would agree, we should not be limited to a one-on-one come-to-Jesus conversation with someone.

I spoke with a Chick-fil-a employee a few months back about their catering services. We invited a speaker to come talk to the law students about the possibility that God may have called us to be lawyers. He works for the Christian Legal Society, so we wanted to impress him with Chick-fil-a. After learning about each type of dipping sauce, I felt like I knew the employee well enough to ask him something a little more personal. I didn't come right out and ask if he was a Christian, but I did ask if there was any mention of God or the Bible during the hiring/training process of Chick-fil-a. He quickly replied that God is kept out of all things at Chick-fil-a. I can't remember his reasons, though I'm sure it had something to do with employment law. But that news surprised me. Chick-fil-a is known as the Christian fast food restaurant.

We continued our discussion about faith and business. I found out that he was a Christian. He was excited to tell me how it all works at Chick-fil-a. He said that although God was never mentioned, the training is soaked with principles and values of Christianity. He said that new employees are often being witnessed to without even realizing it. And it shows. I can't speak for your local Chick-fil-a restaurant (unless you're from Little Rock), but I always feel very satisfied with their service. Last week, I was sitting down for lunch and an employee came by and asked me if I'd like a refill. That's never happened to me in any other fast food restaurant.

This may seem less applicable to our lives because Chick-fil-a is limited, legally. But it is a good reminder that our Christian ideals and teachings can impact others by the way we interact with them. And not always by what we say. Of course, this method of witnessing should not completely replace good ol' fashion Bible thumpin'.

7/8/10

This is my dog, Jack. He has no sense of humor. I can tell when he's happy or upset, but humor, he doesn't get. He brings his ball to our feet in the morning and then he'll lie down and stare at it until we leave. He's always ready, just in case we decide to kick the ball across the room. If he were a human, he'd be the guy in life that takes everything way too seriously. In other words, if he were human, he'd be me.

Yes, I'm that guy. The guy in the office that worries about the smallest problem. I over-analyze just about every area of my life. Rachel and I have a running joke about my mountain out of a mole hill moments. If it ever gets to the point where I am obviously being a spaz, I'll look at her and say, "Life or Death." I'm either reminding her that every decision is life or death to me, or I just need a reminder that some things really aren't that serious. That's what I'd like to tell Jack sometimes. You'd live longer if you would loosen up a bit.

Depending on your personality, some of you can relate. Others, meaning people that take life as seriously as they should, but not too serious, probably find people with my personality to be annoying. What those people don't know is that it is annoying to us uptights too. I claim to be a Christian, but some days I don't show the joy that is expected of me. Some days I can't even fake it. I get in a bad mood or start to worry about something that needs to be done and out goes my joy. I read Bible verses about letting tomorrow take care of itself and then worry some more.

The other day I was around a group of guys that got me laughing so hard I cried. When it was all over, we sighed - the thing you do after a big laugh. I remember thinking that it had been a while since I'd laughed that hard. Don't get me wrong; I am generally a happy person. But I wouldn't describe myself as joyful, someone who makes other people joyful.

I think the first step in lightening up is to find something that will make you laugh. It can be a friend, or a YouTube video. Try it in the morning. I think we'd have much more joyful days if we started them off with a prayer and a laugh. I know it's probably not the Christian thing to do to watch a YouTube video and laugh at someone, but this video should get you started: Star Wars Kid. And when you're done with that, check out the same video - post editing: The Drunken Jedi

I hope that you have a joyful day today. Don't take life too seriously. By the way, that picture of Jack is actually a live feed. He is still waiting on someone to throw his ball.